Tynewydd has launched a community lunch club turning surplus food into shared meals and conversation through a new partnership rooted in sustainability and social connection.

In early 2025, Grow Rhondda began running its Welcome Platter Lunch Club, a monthly event that transforms surplus food into nutritious dishes, lively conversation and meaningful social links. The sessions highlight the impact of FareShare Cymru’s food redistribution network.

FareShare Cymru, which tackles food waste and food insecurity across Wales, supplies surplus ingredients to community groups such as Grow Rhondda. By diverting food that might otherwise go to waste, the organisation helps projects support wellbeing and strengthen communities.

Grow Rhondda, a grassroots group focused on sustainable food growing, climate action and community wellbeing, runs the lunch club from Y Pot Bach, its community coffee shop and hub. Its wider work includes training, gardening projects and social activities that foster connection, learning and support during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Volunteers prepare hot, nutritious meals from FareShare Cymru’s surplus food. The first session served Chicken Madras with rice and handmade naan, filling the room with conversation and laughter. One attendee said: “It’s been months since I’ve eaten with anyone else — this was more than just food to me.”

The second session featured duck breast with cherry balsamic glaze, courgette and aubergine in tomato sauce, wilted spinach and duck fat roast potatoes. A food-themed quiz encouraged guests to try new ingredients. One participant said: “It’s great that you can try new things, as fresh vegetables can be expensive. If you don’t like it, it won’t go to waste.”

The lunch club offers a safe, inclusive space to explore new foods and enjoy healthy meals without cost or pressure. Keith, a regular visitor who travels from across the valley, plans to keep attending and hopes to join Grow Rhondda’s Men’s Shed workshops, showing how the group’s projects interconnect to combat isolation.

Interest in the Welcome Platter Lunch Club has grown, with requests for private functions and menu suggestions from residents. Support from FareShare Cymru has allowed Grow Rhondda to expand both the reach and quality of the sessions, showing the real impact of food redistribution.

The Lunch Club sits within Grow Rhondda’s wider programme of sustainability and community-led action. This includes Y Pot Bach, which offers training, cost-of-living support, repair cafés, a community fridge and a local growers network; Roots 2 Fruits, helping residents cook healthy meals using locally grown produce; Men’s Sheds, providing workshops and gardening activities to reduce isolation; and Care 2 Grow, creating hospital memorial gardens with the support of volunteers.

Grow Rhondda plans to expand the lunch club with themed world cuisine lunches, more volunteers and guest cooks, plus music, and creative workshops. Feedback from attendees will shape future sessions to continue reducing food waste, promoting inclusion and strengthening community ties.

Through its partnership with Grow Rhondda, FareShare Cymru shows how surplus food can be transformative. Ingredients that might have gone to waste are now bringing people together, improving wellbeing and building lasting connections — proving that tackling food waste can create healthier, more connected communities.